Sudan to up Dar Blend crude exports 60 pct by June

March 13, 2007 (SINGAPORE) — Sudan is expecting to boost its Dar Blend crude exports by 60 percent within three months when a pipeline to carry the crude to a new dedicated terminal is completed, shipping and trading sources said.

About 5 million barrels of Dar Blend crude is exported from the terminal monthly, and operators of the crude oil field plan to start shipping at least 8 million barrels by May or June, Sudan-based port sources said.

“They are moving about 5 shipments in 1 million barrel lots monthly, they want to move 8 shipments a month from the terminal, but should only be able to do this sometime in May or at the latest June,” a port source said.

The planned eight shipments per month suggest that output of Dar Blend could reach 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), well above the initial 140,000-200,000 bpd peak target discussed when the field was developed.

The consortium of operators with a stake in the field had originally planned to start shipments from the new terminal earlier, but because of ongoing pipeline work the plan was pushed back.

“The new terminal is ready, but the separate pipeline which is to be used for Dar Blend crude is still being laid, that has been taking time, it’s been a complicated operation,” the source said.

Earlier this month, Sudan’s finance minister, Al-Zubeir Ahmed al-Hassan, told Reuters that the country estimated total oil output for 2007 would average 520,000 bpd.

Full output from the Dar Blend oil field has been delayed due to a series of logistic and infrastructure problems.

The Dar Blend field is operated by Petrodar, a consortium comprising China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) with a 41 percent stake, Malaysia’s Petronas with 40 percent, and state oil firm Sudapet with 8 percent.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) holds 6 percent of Petrodar, while Al Thani Corp., a private company incorporated in the United Arab Emirates, owns 5 percent.

European trader Vitol was selected in 2005 to market up to 3.6 million barrels a month of Dar Blend crude.

Sudan is planning to export as much higher-quality Nile Blend crude as it can, while processing maximum volumes of the high-acidity Dar Blend and exporting oil products.

Sudan and Petronas have signed a contract worth about $1 billion to build a 100,000-bpd refinery in the coastal city of Port Sudan.

Reuters